Mike Woodson: The Dallas Mavericks came back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and pull out a 110-103 win over the Hawks in Atlanta. To pull it off, the Mavs needed a few breaks...and Woodson gave 'em one.
Regarding his veteran-ly move, J-Kidd said: "The coach is not supposed to be on the floor. You see that a lot in games. The NBA has so many rules, and there is a coaching box, and some of the coaches do stretch that box. For me, it's just a reaction. Make something happen. It was a big play for us."
Woodson got a little, eh, chippy after the play, but Kidd let him know what's what: "I said, 'You can't be on the floor. You don't have a uniform on. It was just a play. We move on. ... The officials got it right. I thought from there, mentally, we took control of the game. That play just presented itself. It's just a reaction and just understanding what the team needs. Rules are rules. The coach isn't supposed to be on the floor."
Too Woodson's credit, he didn't whine about the call after the game: "He made a heck of a play. Jason Kidd is an All-Star. He's a (potential) Hall of Fame guard. He's had a hell of a career. He did what he had to do. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to favor the team. I've got to take the hit for that."
The Atlanta Hawks: They can talk all they want to about the tech that got called on Woodson, but it was only one point, and the Hawks led 86-71 with a little over eight minutes to go in the game. It's their own fault they couldn't do anything with Dirk Nowtizki (37 points, 15-for-26) and Kidd (19 points, 16 boards, 17 assists). And especially Kidd, who had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in the final 4:53 of the fourth quarter.
The Dirty Birds missed their first eight shots in OT before Josh Smith finally knocked one down with under a minute left. Too little, too late.
Atlanta's supporting cast: Joe Johnson (27 points, 11-for-21, 10 assists) found out that one really is the loneliest number, as Jamal Crawford, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams combined to go 17-for-54 from the field. Not exactly the best way to convince him to re-sign this summer, guys.
DeShawn Stevenson: Basketbawful reader Brian submittted this video of The Locksmith's ego-ectomy.
New York versus Washington: The
Said Lee: "What was strange about it is, both teams are having trouble getting stops on defense in regulation, and when it came time for overtime neither team could score." Imagine that.
Added Bricks coach Mike 'Antoni: "I'm still shocked right now. We're probably lucky to get away with it, but they would have been lucky to win."
The Bricks are now 2-9 in February. Both wins were against Washington.
The Portland Trail Blazers: Weeks from now, the Frail Blazers will probably still be waking in a cold sweat and wondering how they let the Bull shoot almost 58 percent from the field.
Halftime entertainment at the Pepsi Center: Vanilla Ice. 'Nuff said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers: So the Crabs shot over 51 percent from the field, had six players in double figures, scored 30 fastbreak points, and got another stat-padder from King Crab (36 points, 16 FTAs, 6 boards, 9 assists) and yet they barely beat the Chris Bosh-less Craptors in overtime?
We'll give 'em the "second night of back-to-backs" mulligan, but still.
Hedo Turkoglu: The Craptors actually had the ball and a chance to win the game with 13 seconds left in regulation. But Turkododo decided, "Why try to create a high-percentage shot to end things when I can almost air ball a three instead?"
Fail.
Said Hedo: "I was feeling good and I wanted to take it, but in that situation I could have taken a better shot instead."
How much did Toronto agree to pay this guy again?
The Minnesota Timberwolves: Another night, another blowout loss for the second-worst team in the Association. That'll happen when you let your opponent shoot better than 54 percent from the field.
Said Minny coach Kurt Rambis: "[Oklahoma City] isn't the type of team that you're going to come into this environment and outscore. You're going to have to find ways to get stops, and we weren't doing that."
Darko Milicic: Basketbawful's favorite human victory cigar had 6 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes of PT for the Timberpoops. It may have been one of the best games of his career.
Said Rambis: "Even by his own admission, he didn't keep himself in NBA basketball shape. So, right now, it's almost like he's come to training camp without doing any summer work." And that's how you fail in the NBA, kids.
The Memphis Grizzlies: The only wins the Griz have been able to pull off lately have been against the Bricks, Bullets, Nyets and the Chris Bosh-less Craptors. And what's worse, their loss to the Bobcats was their sixth in a row at home, and their first loss this season to a sub-.500 team. And Memphis basically gave this game away: Charlotte scored 28 points off 20 forced (and unforced) turnovers.
Said Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins: "The turnovers were a big part of the game. It wasn't just the turnovers, but the 28 points they scored off of turnovers. The turnovers were huge."
R.C. Buford: On July 12, 2007, R.C. Buford traded Luis Scola (along with Jackie Butler) to the Houston Rockets for Vassilis Spanoulis and a 2009 2nd round draft pick (Nando DeColo). It was a money-saving move, plus, some people in San Antonio's front office didn't think Scola could fit in to their system.
That must have made Scola's 30-point, 13-rebound performance -- which included 14-for-14 foul shooting -- in Houston's 109-104 win over the Spurs a little extra gratifying, right? Add in the scoring outbursts of Kevin Martin (33 points) and Aaron Brooks (31 points), and it was the first time in Rockets team history that three players scored at least 30 points.
The Los Angeles Clippers: Well, we can go ahead and add "single-handedly destroyed by Robin Lopez" to The Other L.A. Team's resume of fail. Lopez exploded for a career-high 30 points on 13-for-16 shooting. Robin was 7-for-7 at the rim. In fact, the Suns were 22-for-25 at the rim as a team.
Good thing the Clips traded Marcus Camby away.
Chris Kaveman: While Lopez was going nova, Kaveman was taking half the night off. He scored 12 first-half points, but then he picked up two quick techs 20 seconds into the second half. And you know what that means: ejection.
Said Clippers coach Kim Hughes: "I told Chris I thought he let the team down and crossed the line with what he said to the referee. He wasn't getting calls and I agree with him, but it's not going to do him any good what he said to the official. He can't put the team in a position like that. He's too valuable to be thrown out. It was just a bad basketball play."
Added Baron Davis: "Chris has to keep his cool, especially being an All-Star center. He knows we need him. It was just an unfortunate situation."
Kaveman had no comment about his ejection. He had plenty to say when he thought Pau Gasol was going to keep him off the All-Star team...but nothing to say about his ejection.
The Orlando Magic: The fact that the Chris Paul-less Hornets came back from an 18-point whole was amazing enough on its own. But what makes it a little "just ate the neighbor's poodle" crazy is that the win hinged on Aaron Gray's defense on Dwight Howard.
Yes. Aaron Gray.
Howard finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but he scored only 5 points had only one of his eight dunks after New Orleans coach Jeff Bowewr sicced Gray on him during the third quarter. The Magic went on to shoot 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter as the Hornets outscored them 28-13.
Said Bower: "I'm really happy for Aaron that he was able to play a large role in a great win. We thought his size would be factor. He was very effective tonight. His intensity and effort were outstanding."
Added Gray: "I just tried to keep a body on him, be physical. I knew that in order for us to get back into this game, we had to slow him down a little bit. We did that and I think that got him a little frustrated, especially when they were missing shots. It's a huge win and God knows we needed it."
Another factor in the loss was the 18 points Orlando gave up off 18 turnovers.
Said Magic coach
The Utah Jazz: I would say most people already know about the Paul Westphal/Spencer Hawes drama, but that would require people to follow the Kings and, well, yeah. So if you missed the blurbs in last week's posts, here's a dramatization:
Well, Westphal was all about workin' things out before the Kings faced the Jazz.
Said Westphal: "If you want to see that again you'll probably have to go back to YouTube. I doubt I'll pull that one out for a long time. It's been three days of reading about the coach and player hating each other and that was never really it. It [the routine with Hawes] was just kind of fun."
Added Hawes: "We're moving on, what happened is now water under the bridge."
Awww! I think those two crazy kids are gonna make it work!
All those feel-good vibes apparently stymied Utah. Well, that and a season-high 25 points from Beno Udrih. Oh, and the Jazz could barely find the bucket (40 percent) while Sacto was red-hot (54+ percent).
Friday lacktion report: Allow chris to celebrate a rare Kings win with a little lacktion...
Crabs-Raptors: Jawad Williams scratched out a +2 suck differential in 8:52 via brick and foul.
Knicks-Bullets: Shaun Livingston launched a brick and took a rejection to give Washington a +2 in 2:01.
Bobcats-Grizzlies: In the first game of the Post-Thabeet Era, replacement backup center Hamed Haddadi (a fan favorite in Memphis, mind you!) countered a pair of boards in 6:32 with four fouls for a 4:2 Voskuhl.
Frail Blazers-Bulls: Martell Webster (formerly the highest-drafted D-League demotee, before Hasheem Thabeet) defined himself as a lacktator tonight, fouling twice and tossing one brick from Wacker Drive for a +3 in 5:10.
Brad Miller scrappily negated one made free throw and two boards in 19:10 with three bricks, two fouls, and two giveaways for a 4:3 Voskuhl.
Mavs-Hawks: You just KNEW it would happen someday, and at the end of the 2nd quarter - with Mike Bibby needing a sip of Gatorade from the bench - Mike Woodson pressed the select button for THE Mario West, who stepped onto the floor for a mere half-second to earn himself his first SUPER MARIO GALAXY of the season and possibly his career!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spurs-Rockets: Michael Finley provided some suckiness as a starter - two bricks in 9:41 for a +2, next to Matt Bonner's 1:0 Voskuhl off the bench in 7:35 after negating an assist with a giveaway. For the Rockets, David Andersen bricked, fouled, and lost the rock once each for a +3 in 3:22 (that also earned a 2:0 Voskuhl), while Garrett Temple fouled once in 4:36 for a +1.
Temple's maiden pilgrimage to the lacktion ledger made him the 200TH NON-CONTRIBUTOR OF 2009-10! CONGLATURATION, A LACKTATOR IS YOU!
Clippers-Suns: Taylor Griffin - yes, the brother of injured #1 overall Blake (across the hardwood tonight in the Clipper infirmary!!!), went climbing up ladders in a mere 33 seconds for a Mario!
Sixers-Lakers: Josh Powell got some tips from Toad in a three second SUPER MARIO!!!!
The Boston Celtics: The New Jersey Nyets entered their game against the Celtics in Boston with a record of 5-52, including 2-27 on the road. But hey, we all know this story, right?
Sure, the Celtics have been on the ropes lately, but there's no way they could lose to the Nyets, right? And certainly not in Boston!
Oh dear sweet Spiderman's balls.
The Nyets scored 25 points off 18 Celtics turnovers, had a crazy-ass 41-11 advantage in free throw attempts -- again, in Boston!! -- and built an 18-point fourth-quarter lead before the C's mounted a failed comeback. The final score: Nyets 104, Celtics 96.
Look, this is way bigger than Paul Pierce being out. There's no way the Celtics should have lost this game. No way they should be 13-15 since Christmas day. But they are. The flaws have been exposed. KG is never going to be what he was. Ray Allen will have the occasional good games and that's it. Paul Pierce is far (read that: very far) from being the best player in the world. Rasheed Wallace still doesn't give a shit. And Doc Rivers was widely considered one of the worst coaches in the league before he got handed two great players at the tail end of their respective primes.
Their chemistry and swag? Long gone.
Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub did a good job compiling various quotes:
Kendrick Perkins (via ESPNBoston): "How many wake-up calls you going to get? We've got a lot of them, to be honest with you."
Kevin Garnett (via the Globe): "Doc gives us direction. Guys have to go out there and follow the plan and execute. That's all it is."
Rasheed Wallace (via the same Globe story): "We can't sit up here and say, 'Oh, it's Doc's fault that we lost.' Or 'Doc's not doing this' or 'Doc's not doing that.' Doc's not on the floor. It's the five guys that's out there. So we have to come up with ways to win."
KG again, via the Herald: "We're a team that takes a lot of pride in getting stops. We got to get back to that. Hearing it is starting to make my ears ring, but that's what it is. And we will. We have no choice."
No choice. No hope. Take your pick.
Also courtesy of Celtics Hub, here are some videos that epitomize Boston's fail.
The Miami Heat: After the way Celtics were shamed, watching the Dwyane Wade-less Heat shoot 35 percent, score only 71 points (including only 26 in the second half) and lose by 25 at home to the Bucks barely registered on my all-purpose Bawful-o-meter.
But, just for posterity, I should note that the Bucks are now 3-0 against the Heat this season, and they've won those games by a total of 50 points.
Said Rafer Alston: "Every time we play them, they pretty much hand it to us."
Added Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: "I don't think it was an indicator of a lack of effort or focus. They simply outplayed us and outclassed us, and to be honest they've done it for three games. ... Offensively they played with a higher motor and a higher pace than we're comfortable with, and you can see it."
This win means Milwaukee has won the season series for the first time in seven years.
New York Knicks: As Basketbawful reader Czernobog put it: Zach Randolph gave it to the Bricks prison style. I'm talking 31 points and a career-high 25 rebounds against the team that sent him to the Clippers. For that, the Bricks probably lucky Z-Bo didn't set MSG on fire on his way out.
Since New York has no idea how to guard anybody, it's not totally surprising they got squashed by Randolph and the rest of the Grizzlies' frontcourt. Marc "Underrated Bitches" Gasol added 25 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, and Rudy Gay added 27 points. Memphis also outrebouned the Bricks 52-32.
Said Mike 'Antoni: "I just thought we got wore down by their strength and their height and their weight, and we paid for it a little bit.
The Griz also tied a franchise record by notching their fourth straight road win. Which is kind of funny considering they've lost six straight at home.
The Minnesota Timberwolves: Another night, another blowout loss for the second-worst team in th...wait...it feels like we've been here before. And we have. Over, and over, and over.
On this night, the Timberpoops were owned by Portland's Nicolas Batum, who set new career highs in points (31) and three-pointers (5). He also dished out a season-high 7 assits. Regarding the point total: Batum had never scored more than 20 points in a game before. Also, he was born in France. Ouch.
The Blazers have won 12 straight over the Wolves, including four victories this season by a combined 93 points. Double ouch.
And now for the triple ouch...
Al Jefferson: Apparently, Minny's loss drove him to drink...and drive. Oy.
The Houston Rockets: I guess it's safe to say the Jazz were a little riles up over that loss to the Kings, because they spanked the Rockets something harsh. Deron Williams had 20 points and 6 assists...
...in the first quarter. Utah shot almost 70 percent for the game and won 133-110. Way to play defense, Houston. The Rockets are now 2-7 in their last nine games. So much for Moneyball.
The Detroit Pistons: Even a 14-point second-half lead against the woeful Warriors wasn't enough for the woeful-er Pistons, who went 11-for-26 from the foul line. What the fuuuuu....were they blindfolded or something? Was the ball set on fire before each foul shot. Note that much of that truly foul shooting was by...
Ben Wallace: Big Ben went 1-for-9 from the charity stripe. To make matters worse, Don Nelson went to the Hack-a-Ben strategy down the stretch and it totally worked, as Wallace went 1-for-6 after three intentional fouls in the last 3:52. Included in those misses were consecutive air balls in the final minute.
Saturday lacktion report: As we head into this lacktion report, it's worth asking: Now that Boston has lost to New Jersey, how much better are the Celtics, really, than the Kings?
Nyets-Celtics: The Nyets were able to prevail at the TDBanknorthConvalescentGarden and two bawful big men performances from Boston are evidence as to why. Kendrick Perkins, as starting big man, made one of three shots and garnered two boards in 19:29, only to foul and lose the rock three times each for a 6:4 Voskuhl. Brian Scalabrine sprayed two rebounds onto his statline in 16:58, but bricked twice (once from Filene's Basement) and added two fouls and two turnovers each for a 4:2 Voskuhl.
Bucks-Heat: Milwaukee's Primoz Brezec bricked once in 3:33 for a +1 suck differential.
Bulls-Pacers: Mike Dunleavy lived up to his family name by bricking twice from the Chase Tower for a +2 in 4:28.
Frail Blazers-Wolves: Darko Milicic did manage two field goals and four boards in 22:49, but also fouled out and lost the rock thricely for a 9:8, his second straight Voskuhl.
Rockets-Jazz: Kyrylo Fesenko is back to his usual failtacular standards in a 3:23 stint as Jerry Sloan's human victory cigar, shanking four attempts from the charity stripe and fouling twice for a +6 AND a 2:0 Voskuhl!
Pistons-Warriors: Chris Hunter took four fouls and bricked twice in 7:19 for a +6 that doubled as a 2:0 Voskuhl.
Jason Richardson: There is a long and storied history of bizarre incidents preceding a Suns loss to the Spurs. Like the time Joe Johnson busted his face. Or the time Steve Nash busted his face. Or the time Robert Horry body-slammed Nash and thereby caused a dual suspension that swung a playoff series. Then, of course, there was Tim Duncan's three-pointer.
Now we have a new entry into the Suns-Spurs lore, as Jason Richardson -- a two-time NBA Slam Dunk Champion, by the way -- blew a game-tying dunk with about 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter. And not just any dunk. It was an uncontested breakaway dunk. Two-time slam dunk champ!!
Not surprisingly, Phoenix went on to lose despite the fact that the video game version of Amar''''''e Stoudemire showed up to play (41 points, 15-for-28, 12 rebounds).
Said Richardson: "I don't like to miss dunks, especially in crunch time like that, but it's one of those things that happens. You can't do anything about it." You mean other than actually connect on the highest percentage shot in professional basketball?! Yeah, other than that, you can't do anything about it.
Somewhat fittingly, Nash hit a nutso three that brought the Suns to within a point with 4.6 seconds left and then -- after to Manu Ginobili free throws -- had a chance to attempt another three-pointer to tie it at the buzzer but mysteriously passed it to Channing Frye...who wasn't even in three-point range. As an anonymous commenter said: "I'm sure the fact that the Gold Medal hockey game had started had nothing to do with Nash's decision to pass instead of taking a shot that would send his game into overtime. I'm just sayin'."
Richard Jefferson: Believe it or not, Richardson played a key role in San Antonio's win, but he was victimized, posterized, facialized and any other -ized you can think of by this Stoudemire jackhammer:
Thanks to Basketbawful reader manic -- who may very well have the best profile photo in the history of Western Civilization -- for the link.
The Denver Nuggets: The Nuggmeisters have owned the Lakers all season and they controlled most of Sunday's game in L.A. But they never really capitalized on their double-digit lead, committing some foolish turnovers and missing several first-half free throws. Sure enough, the Lakers came back down the stretch made their statement: The Nuggets won't be beating us in the playoffs.
Kobe Bryant: Many people were predicting that Kobe would drop 30 or 40 points on Denver. Not just because he wanted to drop the hammer on the Lakers' only real Western Conference rival, but also because J.R. Smith made the following bold statement on Twitter last week: "Dont get me wrong kobe is great but not when he play me."
But instead of laying the royal smack, Mamba -- who did have 14 points and 12 crucial assists -- went 3-for-17 from the field...which was his second-worst shooting performance ever. Interestingly enough, three of Kobe's seven worst shooting games have come this season. The Lakers have won all three.
The New Jersey Nyets: As if to prove that their big win over the Celtics was basically meaningless, the Nyets coughed up a 14-point lead and lost at home to the Washington
Let's face it: they are who we thought they were. Although there was someone especially goat-y on this team of goats...
Yi Jianlian: Actually, the Chairman had a huge game: 20 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. BUT...he missed two critical free throws in the final 1:19. One of those misses would have tied the game, the other would have given New Jersey a one-point lead.
But wait, there's more! With the game tied at 83, Randy hit a baseline jumper to give Washington a two-point lead with 44.6 seconds to play. Roy then drilled another J from almost the same spot with 13.5 seconds left to extend the Bullets' lead to four points...which effectively ended the game.
His defender? Yi Jianlian.
Said Yi: "What happened is what happened. I missed the free throws and on the last two defenses the guy hit the shot. That's the game. Learn from it."
Devin Harris: In all fairness to The Chairman, Harris was partially to blame for this latest Nyets fail. He had 18 points and 14 assists but shot 1-for-8 in the fourth quarter. Clutch!
Said Harris: "I had a bunch of wide open layups and jump shots, but in the fourth quarter we couldn't buy a basket." Notice his clever pronoun shift from "I" to "we"?
Seems like a fitting time for this update: New Jersey is now 29-93 since Devin said "We knew we were going to be a playoff team" in December of 2008.
The Milwaukee Bucks: Leaving Chicago has really agreed with John Salmons, who scored a season-high 32 points in Milwaukee's near-win over the Hawks in Atlanta. Now let's focus on that "near-win" part. The Bucks took a quick 5-point lead in OT (97-92) and then, well, they choked. Luke Ridnour threw a bad pass that eventually became a layup going the other way. Andy Bogut had a layup stuffed by Al Horford after which Joe Johnson drilled a three. After a bad miss by Ridnour, Johnson knocked down another shot to give the Hawks a 2-point lead. Then Salmons threw the ball to Atlanta's Marvin Williams, which led to another field goal for Johnson that proved to be the knockout blow.
Said Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles: "We were up five points [in OT], and that's where we've got to be smarter than that. ... We made two, three or four mistakes that were really costly right there. We played good enough to win. We had the chances to win. We just didn't get the win."
The Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade is back! The Heat are still losing by double digits! This despite the fact that Dwight Howard scored only 7 points (1-for-7) and logged only 25 minutes due to foul trouble. I'd point at this or that key factor, but, you know, Miami just isn't that good.
The Toronto Raptors: The Craptors' 119-99 loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City once again underscored the importance of Chris Bosh, without whom Toronto may never win again.
After scoring just 7 points on 3-for-8 shooting, Hedo "Five-year, $53 million contract" Turkododo said: "Without Chris, we just needed to step up. When he comes back, we're going to be much stronger. His presence will be great throughout the game on both ends of the court. We hope that he comes back soon and puts this team in a better situation."
Of course, we -- and by "we" I mean "I" -- hope Bosh leaves the frozen North for the frozen-for-five-months-of-the-year Midwest this summer. Just throwin' that out there.
The Los Angeles Clippers: After three straight wins against the Kings, Bobcats and Pistons, people were actually referring to the Clippers as "surging," which is yet another sign of how silly and reactionary the media can be. The Other L.A. Team is in a permanent surge...and it's the same kind of surge my bowels do after an all-night alcohol-and-burrito bender.
Fact: The Clippers are and will always be who we thought they were. I don't care how many current and former All-Stars they have, how many lottery picks or how much cap space they have. This team will suck forever. I would like to propose legislation to prevent any and all writers from ever getting excited enough to use the word "surging" when the Clips win a few consecutive home games over sub-.500 teams. Especially when they follow up that "surge" with a blowout loss in Phoenix and then another loss to the Kings (20-39).
Said The Other L.A. Team's interim coach Kim Hughes: "I think we took the first half off. I don't believe we're a good enough team to play the first half like that with poor energy. I thought we competed in the second half. I was disappointed in our bigs and I thought we turned the ball over way too many times [15]. I think we gave up 25 points on turnovers and we got six."
Sunday lacktion report: And now the final lacktion of the weekend:
Suns-Spurs: Matt Bonner and Malik Hairston battled over one Game Boy, with Bonner only getting 7 seconds of Goomba stomping in a Super Mario, while Hairston found himself tossing Koopa shells for a full 38 second Mario!
Bullets-Nyets: Fabricio Oberto countered four boards in 23:16 with a giveaway and five fouls for a 6:4 Voskuhl, while Nick Young bricked twice and lost the rock once for a +3 suck differential in 6:02. Mike Harris got a rebound, but also had to contend with a Piranha Plant in a 28 second Mario.
Bucks-Hawks: Charlie Bell rang up the end-of-level flagpole in a 5 second Super Mario!!!
Clippers-Kings: Bobby Brown belted out a ballad in just 9 seconds for a Super Mario!
Hornets-Mavs: DeShawn Stevenson tossed a brick and fouled once for a +2 in 6:20.
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